Glaciers always melt at Which Surface?

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A glacier is a bold blanket of ice that covers a large area of land. The word “glacier” comes from the French language and the name is derived from the Latin word glacies meaning “ice”. Around ten percent of the world’s land area is blanket by glaciers. Glaciers are found in 47 countries. Alaska is estimated to have more than 100,000 glaciers.

If all land ice would about to melt, sea level would rise approximately 70 meters worldwide. Glacier ice is very dense and melts slowly which provides water downstream all summer long. The ablation zone is the area below the accumulation zone where the glacial ice exits. In this area there is a loss in ice mass due to ablation such as melting and evaporation.

A retreating glacier doesn’t actually travel backward, but is melting faster than it is gaining new ice.  A scientist who studies glaciers is called a glaciologist.